AP History AND Community College-too much?

[pjssully]

HI, I ma trying to plan my daughters 11th grade year and academcially, she is more than ready for CC work. She has taken theCOMPAS at the CC and scored very well. She wants to take an online course from the CC and then I was thinking of a AP US history course. Would that be too much work? She would also be doing a science, and English, and not sure what her electives will be yet, but she will not be doing a foreign language. We are thinking of the PA homeschoolers for the US history AP course.

would love any feedback.

Thanks

pam

[AngieW in Texas]

I have not heard good things about online courses from a cc. If she can do it in person, then I would say to go for it, but online is difficult.

 

For PA hsers, make sure you check out the teacher for the class you are interested in. I know folks have talked about different PS hsers teachers on hs2coll (yahoogroups).

 

My kids haven't done any online courses, but my two older girls have both done in-person classes at the cc and had a great experience with it.

[FloridaLisa]

I don't think it is too heavy to schedule a CC course along with one AP and two at-home classes. My dc have taken a mix in high school, including APs and concurrent CC or university enrollment. They have also taken online courses and done fine; these are more check-the-box kind of courses. All sciences and labs were done at the university or through AP. One thing I like to look at when scheduling, especially during the junior year, is when the tests fall. You have the PSAT in the fall, concurrent enrollment tests in December, SATs in either late fall or spring, and concurrent enrollment in April and then APs in May. It's a lot of testing! One of my dc was particularly cooked by the end of all of that; another did fine.

 

Lisa

[momofkhm]

My dd is 12th grade. Her schedule last fall was AP US History (PH Prep), German on-line and then English, biology (on-line) and precalc at the CC. This spring it's history, German and then English, chemistry (on-line) and calculus at the CC. Two high school level classes, 3 college level. 3 on-line, 2 in person. Labs are in person.

 

Last fall, I don't know if it was trying to work on top of class load. Was it college applications? Was it class 3 days a week? Or something else entirely? We did eventually make her quit working about 1/2 way through the semester. But she was overloaded. She was not a happy camper.

 

This spring, no work. College applications are finished. Classes are 2 days a week. She is my normal happy girl (which may not what most people would say is happy. But you know your kid!). She feels like she can breathe this semester.

 

We are looking at a non-science major getting to college with all of her math and science gen eds being checked off.

 

We will be doing things differently with the next one. Not as many classes to start with. Not an AP for her. But they are 2 very different learners.

[Mom2boys]

We are planning my ds's 11th grade year, and he will be taking AP US History through PA Homeschoolers, and he will be taking one class at our local CC - probably Computer Programming. He will be taking it on campus though, not online. So obviously we think that is a doable work load. His other courses will likely be Spanish 2, Chemistry, and Precalc.

[Sunshine State Sue]

We are allowed to dual enroll for free in 10th-12th grade at CC. Ds took 2 classes the fall semester of 10th grade and 3 in the spring semester. This year (11th grade), he is taking 4 classes each semester. We both definitely prefer face-to-face over online. The online ones haven't been bad, though his current math online class only has assignments due every 3-4 weeks which drives me nuts because ds procrastinates...

 

I'm not sure why you want to do one CC and one AP. At our CC, there are a ton of American History sections, so I would never consider AP for that.

 

FWIW, the more experienced hs parents around here suggest that the first class the student takes at CC is a class called The College Experience (see description below) or a subject that they are strong in. We chose to do both.

 

HTH!

 

The College Experience

This course is designed to strengthen skills essential to success in college, with further applications to post-college plans. Included are study and test-taking strategies; effective interpersonal skills; time management techniques; creative and critical thinking skills; college services and resources; educational policies, procedures, regulations and terminology; and library resources, research strategies, and information skills for online, blended, and traditional learning environments.

 

[G5052]

Yes, I'd be careful about online. Here's a good article that is making the rounds on my faculty email lists: http://www.nytimes.c...=me&ref=general.

 

I've taken a lot of online classes myself, and when an online class is bad, it is much, much worse than a bad face-to-face. I had one several years ago that was one of the very worst classes I've ever taken. The professor disappeared for the last month of class and never responded to questions or graded the last assignments and tests. Yet an "A" showed up on my transcript!

 

My children will start with what they call "Student Development" (same idea as "The College Experience") and the basic computer literacy class in hybrid or face-to-face format. That combination will get them going well without being too controversial or back-breaking. Then we'll go from there!